31 October 2021

You’re Such a Mommy Man

Well, that's the last of the weird. WEIRD OCTOBER, that is. Around here, thing will always get weirder before they get weirder. 

 



Geza X is an L.A. based producer whose credits include some of the biggest names in punk (The Germs - Lexicon Devil EP & Dead Kennedys - Holiday in Cambodia to name just two).

He was also a musician, a guitarist & vocalist, leader of Geza X & the Mommymen. This is their only album.

Lovers of weird science fiction noises & catchy, up-tempo songs will enjoy "We Need More Power" or  "Isotope Soap".  People into Danny Elfman/Tim Burton dark carnival weirdness will like "Pony Ride II", "Rio Grande Hotel", "The Paranoids are Coming" or "Practicing Mice".  If you want weird novelty funk with annoying, high-pitch “meow”s, you’ve got “Funky Monsters.”  If you want weird ethnic music making fun of Geza X's very own ethnic background, you've got "Hungarian" (apparently, they have an IQ of 6!).  If you're looking for weird creepy as all hell, demo-era Devo style, robotic music you've got "Mean Mr. Mommy Man".  If you want weird poppy new wave, you've got CD bonus track, "Rx Rock & Roll".  And, if you want a weird xylophone filled rock song that trashes the very people that listen to this record, you've got "I Hate Punks". All in all, it's all weird.

This is the 2002 re-issue of the 1981 classic with two bonus tracks. 

 

Geza X & the Mommymen - You Goddam Kids!, Bacchus Archives BA1171, 2002.
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Pony Ride II    
Rio Grand Hotel    
Hungarian    
We Need More Power    
Isotope Soap    
The Paranoids are Coming    
Interlude    
Funky Monsters    
Practicing Mice    
I Hate Punks    
Mean Mr. Mommy Man    
bonus tracks    
Rx Rock & Roll    
Pony Ride I

Enjoy,

29 October 2021

Must Be the Season of the Weird

Thought I'd better get this weird Hellowane mix out in time for everyone 
to add it to their entertainment playlist. 
 
Weird.
Various - Weird Hellowane, NØ Comps, 2021.
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Spookville - The Nu-Trends
Season of the Witch (the Quay sessions) - Meursault
Evil - Howlin’ Wolf
Season of the Witch - Sam Gopal with Lemmy - vocls & bass
I Want to be Evil - Eartha Kitt
Season of the Witch - Hole
Wild Witch Lady - Donovan
Season of the Witch - The Strangelings
Frankenstein Stomp - Count Lorry & the Biters
Voodoo Voodoo - Lavern Baker
Evil - Greta Van Fleet
Season of the Witch - Lana Del Rey
Witch for a Night - Sugar Pie Desanto

Enjoy,

27 October 2021

Over Two Million Served

 

Over night last night my visitor count passed the 2,000,000 mark. I realize that that's no big deal in light of the length of time I've been doing this, but for a "backwater blog" like I've got going here, it's kinda major to me. In fact, I'm mightily chuffed.

So I've decided to reward all of you loyal followers out there in the aether with gifts from me to you because of this. From now until the beginning of December I am taking request from anyone who reads this. 

Submit your wish-list for your ideal post you'd like to see here. You can request up to three albums, bands, whatever. Maybe write a brief-to-detailed reason for you're request. I'll take all request into consideration & post up the results at the end of November. Then throughout December I will gift posts to everyone that I've chosen who requested music.

I have only my own limited resources from which to honor requests, so I won't be able to make everyone happy. But I'll try my hardest to give Holidaze gifts to all you. If you just try to stump me with impossible to find items, then you probably will end up on Santa's naughty list, but if you have something that you've been searching for or something you've wanted me to post, then you'll make Santa's nice list.

You can put your requests in the comments of any posts. I'll see them, check them out, & see what I can do.

Thank you all for stopping by & hopefully finding some musick you've enjoyed. Come back soon.


26 October 2021

LA's First Glam Band

 

It's getting later in the month & the music is just getting weirder. 

 

Zolar X - Timeless, Pyramid Records CF 3000, 1982.
decryption code in comments

IOI Side -

Recitation
Timeless
Science
Test Tube Baby
Rocket Roll
Mirrors
Jet Star 19
Space Age Love
Energize Me

Zolar X Side -

The Horizon Suite: Overture on Air / Tomorrow´s Sunrise / Inside the Outside / Sound Barrier
Blues on Blue
Nativity
What is Music?
Moonbeams

Enjoy,

23 October 2021

Circus Mono Kontrol

 

Circus Lupus was a post-hardcore band based in the area of Washington, D.C. The band originally formed in Madison, Wisconsin, where one-time Ignition & Soul Side bassist Chris Thomson met guitarist Chris Hamley & drummer Arika Casebolt while attending school. Reg Shrader initially played bass with the band. He was replaced by Seth Lorinczi, as the band was making its transition from Madison to Washington. 



The name Circus Lupus comes from an SCTV sketch about "Circus Lupus, the Circus of Wolves", a mock TV commercial for an entirely wolf-filled traveling circus, with graphics of wolves on trapeze swings & other circus apparatus. 

 

Circus Lupus - Super Genius, Dischord Records DIS63CD, 1992.
all decryption codes in comments


Unrequited
Cyclone Billy
Pacifier
Breaking Point
Straight Through the Heart
Marbles
Mean Hot & Blessed
Cat Kicking Jerk
Blue Baby
Amish Blessing
Pulp
Tightrope Walker
Chinese Nitro 

 

Circus Lupus - Solid Brass, Dischord Records DIS79CD, 1993.


Right Turn Clyde
7 X 4 X 1
I Always Thought You Were an Asshole
And You Won
New Cop Car
Texas Minute
Deviant Gesture Catalog
Takes About an Hour: Epilepsy
Pop Man
Heathen
Pop Man
Pressure Point

 

 



After the demise of Circus Lupus, Chris Thomson & Chris Hamley formed the band Monorchid with bassist Andy Coronado, guitarist Andy Cone, & drummer Tom Allnutt.

I got the chance to see Monorchid in the summer of 1997 at the Capitol Theater in Olympia during Yo-Yo A Go-Go.

You can get both Monochrid's albums over at I Hate the 90s. I'll feature their three 7''s here & if you like them go over to I Hate the 90s. Be sure to tell Michelle that Nathan sent ya. 

 

Monorchid - Impostor Costume, Lovitt Records LOV 01, 1995.

Side A -
Southern Fried Wonton

Side B -
Oral Fixation Anonymous
Shark Bites Back
 
 
Monorchid - self-titled 7", Simple Machines SMR 048, 1996.


Side a -
Distortion

Side b -
Babies

 


Customer Signature Side -
S.S. Hopeless
Red Meat

Spiderman Side -
Diet for an Underdog 

 



In 1997, Chris Thomson, Kim Thompson (Delta 72), & Brooks Headley (Born Against, Universal Order of Armageddon) formed Skull Kontrol, initially a three-piece until the official demise of the Monorchid at which time guitarist Andy Coronado joined the band. 

 


New Rock Critic
Call Me Rover
Camouflage
Satan is Jesus to Me
What I Once Feared Has Now Come True
Robot Man
Witch Laughter
Live Bait

Enjoy,

22 October 2021

We Begin Bombing

...in 5 Minutes

 

Music by Jerry Harrison & Bootsy Collins, vocals by The Gipper 

 

Bonzo Goes to Washington - 5 Minutes, Sleeping Bag Records SLX-13, 1984.

Side 666
5 Minutes (C-C-C-Club mix)

Arthur Russell Side
5 Minutes (R-R-R Radio mix)
5 Minutes (B-B-B Bombing mix)

Enjoy,

20 October 2021

Primates are Animals, Too

 

I first saw Primus at a house party in West Oakland in the mid 80s, before they had released their first album & risen to fame. We would drive up to West Oakland every week-end & head to one of the many band houses there. Many of the punk crowd associated with Gilman St. had move to the West Oakland area because of the much cheaper rent, the warehouse spaces available, & the more ethnically diverse, more friendly atmosphere. Jack Acid, The Gr-ups, Kamala etc all could be found playing house parties on any given week-end. It was cheap, it was personal, it was fun. 



I remember Primus well, as their style was right in my wheel-house. They had humor & funk injected into their DIY blend. They were definitely weird. 

 

Primus - Animals Should not Try to Act like People 12“ 45rpm,
Mobile Fidelity Sound La MFSL 1-45001, 2004.
decryption code in comments

Side 1       
The Carpenter & the Dainty Bride    
Pilcher's Squad    
Mary the Ice Cube

Side 2
The Last Superpower aka Rapscallion    
My Friend Fats

Enjoy,

18 October 2021

Mongol with a Dongle

 

Shpongle...a strange hybrid of electronic manipulation & shamanic midgets with frozen digits squeezing the envelope, crawling through the doors of perception, finding a new pair o' dice, discovering extra numbers & colours, expanding an infinite bubble filled with a bizzare, strange world of dripping hallucinatory wallpaper, a garden of earthly delights. The Ineffable Mysteries unweave as weirdness abounds.



Shpongle is a Psybient music project made up of Simon Posford (aka Hallucinogen) & Raja Ram of The Infinity Project.

Shlongle - Tales of the Inexpressible, Twisted Records TWSCD13, 2001.
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Dorset Perception
Star Shpongled Banner   
A New Way to Say "Hooray!"   
Room 2ૐ
My Head Feels like a Frisbee
Shpongleyes   
Once Upon the Sea of Blissful Awareness
Around the World in a Tea Daze
Flute Fruit

Enjoy,

15 October 2021

With a Bit of a Mind Flip...You're into the Time Slip...Let's Do the Time Warp Again

 

Time Machines was released in 1998 by Coil. They felt it was so unique from their usual style that they needed an alias. John Balance described the album as 4 tones to facilitate travel through time, an attempt to create temporal slips.

Balance stated:
     "One of the interesting things with Time Machines is that there's a handful of responses which we've had where what happened to the listeners was exactly what we intended to happen. There would be some kind of temporal disruption caused by just listening to the music, just interacting with the music. The drugs thing is actually a hook we hung it on - it originally came out of me and Drew talking that some of the types of music you listen to - sacred musics like Tibetan music or anything with a sacred intent which often is long ceremonial type music which could last for a day or three days or something. There are periods of time in that where you will come out of time. That's the intention of it to go into a trance and achieve an otherness. We thought can we do this sort of electronic punk-primitive? We did demos with a simple mono synth and we managed it. We sat in the room and listened to it loud and we lost track of time - it could be five minutes in or 20 minutes in but you suddenly get this feeling, the hairs on the back of your neck, and you'd realise that you'd had some sort of temporal slip. We fine-tuned, well, filters and oscillators and stuff, to try and maximise this effect. It was what we were after with simple tones - somehow you could slip through." 

 

This album succeeds so effectively in its goals of warping time that some of the reviews for it were published years before its release. The louder you listen to it, the more twisted you are, the better it works.

The CD comes in a cardboard gatefold sleeve. The first 3000 copies come with the following 6 stickers: four relating to each track...telepathine; hecate; psilocybin; & DMT plus two different Persistence is All stickers (artwork included in file). 

 

Time Machines - Time Machines, Eskaton 010, 1998.
decryption code in comments

7-Methoxy-β-Carboline: (Telepathine)
2,5-Dimethoxy-4-Ethyl-Amphetamine: (DOET/Hecate)
5-Methoxy-N,N-Dimethyl: (5-MeO-DMT)
4-Indolol,3-[2-(Dimethylamino)Ethyl],Phosphate Ester: (Psilocybin)

Enjoy,

13 October 2021

American Womyn Yo Yo

 

I've  previously posted up three Yoyo comps: ThrowJulep; &  Periscope.

 

The Yoyo compilations are a gift from Olympia, WA's Pat Maley. Yoyo Recordings is a record label & an offshoot of Pat's Yo-Yo Studio. Yoyo has issued releases by Elliott Smith, The Mountain Goats, & many others including my favorite, Lois Maffeo.

 

Well, here's one more...Projector.

 

Various - Projector: Another Studio Compilation, Yoyo Recordings YOYO-CD12, 1999.
decryption code in comments

X the Calendar - The KG   
Bag Full of Spiders - Get the Hell Out of the Way of the Volcano
American Woman - The Need
The Weirding Way - C Average
Can't You Even Remember That? (K.O. remix) - IQU
Precious Little Rocket     - Mirah
I Like It - Dennis Driscoll
Shame the Bells - Lois Maffeo
Lovely Loop (instrumental) - Bluebirdsky
Koala Boy - Ashtray Boy
Rip Up the Carpet - Little Red Car Wreck
Holiday - Super Duo
Differential - Rabbit Rabbit
Wake Me Up - The Microphones
Another Unknown - The Drivers
Barely Alive - Eucalyptus
Stop Motion - Nova Scotia
This Planet's Mine - The Nervous System
Saved by God - The Lowdown
Stole - The Newlyweds
Without You - Loud Machine 0.5
Pomegranate - Rebecca Pearcy
Untitled - Unknown Artist

Track 5 is an extended version of "Can't You Even Remember That? (Q>C Mix)" from IQU's "Teenage Dream" (KLP 108). Track 21 is "Vaselina" by The Need w/ Joe Preston (Loud Machine 0.5). The final track is reversed 'hidden messages' from Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven".

Yoyo,

12 October 2021

Noise is Still the King

 

Most everyone remembers the 6' 7" flying-V guitar wielding freak with a mohawk wearing a some crazy trans/punk outfit...Richie Stotts. After leaving the Plasmatics in 1984, Richie pursued a solo career with his band King Flux. 

 



 

This is a compilation of Richie's tunes released in 2002. It contains "Man with the X-Eyes" & "1944" from Stotts' only official release (a 7" 45rpm on American Gothic) plus songs Richie had on cassettes he had recorded but never released that had been in a box in his apartment. The rest of the songs are from the King Flux days. A rarity.

Limited to 100 numbered copies with sleeves that were hand signed & painted by Richie hisself. Comes with 11"x17" cardstock lyric/photo insert (which I included).

Richie is joined on various tunes by fellow Plasmatics bassists Jean Beauvoir & Chris Romanelli, part-time Plasmatics & Twisted Sister drummer Tony Petri along with the Hilfiger Bros (Andy - bass & Billy - guitar [R.I.P.]), Albert Bouchard of B.Ö.C. & Marky Ramone on drums. 

 

Richie Stotts - Richie Stotts, Outlaw Recordings – OLR-010, 2002.
decryption code in comments

Side A -
Man with the X-ray Eyes
Blessed Me
1944
Noise is King
C'Mon Everybody (Eddie Cochran cover)

Side B -
No Time for Dreams
Big Mistake
Kingdom Come
What You Don't Know
Reign of the Insane

Enjoy,

10 October 2021

Sex TOY

 

Bat for Lashes is a solo project of Natasha Khan, a British/Pakistani singer-songwriter multi-instrumentalist, currently based in Los Angeles. She signed to the record label Echo & released her debut album Fur & Gold in 2006. The song "Trophy" is from that release. The B-side "Howl" is a non-album track. 

 

Bats for Lashes - Trophy 7". Echo ECS 188, 2006.


A Side -
Trophy

B Side -
Howl! 



 

There is a live version of "Howl" b/w a live version of "Wild is the Wind" released on International Record Day 2010. I've included another live version of "Wild is the Wind" from the De La Warr Pavilion show.

Bat for Lashes - Howl! / Wild is the Wind 7" 45rpm, Parlophone R 6812, 2010.


Side A -
Howl! (live at De La Warr Pavillion

Side B -
Wild is the Wind (live at Grove Music Studios)

bonus track -
Wild is the Wind (live at De La Warr Pavillion) 

 

 



Sexwitch is a collaboration between Natasha Khan of Bat for Lashes & the British rock band TOY. Khan & TOY had previously collaborated in 2013 to cover "The Bride", a pre-revolution Iranian song on the Bats for Lashes release of the same name. For the Sexwitch session, Khan & producer Dan Carey bought several "old weird psych records from different countries, strange folk mountain songs". They then asked TOY to record cover versions of the songs.

The finished project consists of six cover versions of 1970s psychedelic & folk songs from Iran, Morocco, Thailand, United States with "hypnotic, groove-based tracks that feature jagged post-punk guitars" & "shrieking crescendos".


Sexwitch - Sexwitch, Echo SWA01. 2015.
all decryption codes in comments

Ha Howa Ha Howa
Helelyos
Kassidat el Hakka
Lam Plearn Kiew Bao
Ghoroobaa Ghashangan
War in Peace





 
TOY is an English indie rock band from Brighton, formed in 2010. The band's sound is a warm blending of psychedelic rock, krautrock, shoegaze, & post-punk.  Shortly before the release of their third album, they participated in the Sexwitch sessions. Join the Dots is the bands second outing. 

On Join the Dots, TOY is: Tom Dougall - guitar & vocals; Dominic O'Dair - guitar; Alejandra Diez - synthesizer; Maxim Barron - bass & vocals; Charlie Salvidge - drums & vocals, mixed by Dan Carey. 

 

 

TOY - Join the Dots / Join the Dubs 2xCD, Heavenly – HVNLP102CD, 2013. 

CD1 -

Conductor
You Won't be the Same
As We Turn
Join the Dots
To a Death Unknown
Endlessly
It's Been so Long
Left to Wander
Too Far Gone to Know
Frozen Atmosphere
Fall Out 0f Love 
 
 
 
Special copies came with a bonus CD EP Join the Dubs if purchased from Rough Trade stores. This was not available separately. 

CD2 -

Join the Dots (Dub)
As We Turn (Dub)
You Won't be the Same (Dub)
Left to Wander (Dub)
Conductor (Dub) 
 
Enjoy, 

08 October 2021

But Still the Smell Remains #1

 

Nasmak was an experimental early 80s band from Neunen, Netherlands, just outside of Eindhoven. Back at the start of the 80s, despite its provincial reputation, Eindhoven was a magnet for musical adventurers like no other place in the Netherlands. Forward thinking venues like the Apollohuis & the Effenaar, even smaller spots like the Poort van Kleef cafe regularly hosted nights of avant-garde music. Those making the instruments & devices that could play or record such music worked or studied at Philips Laboratories & Research Studios. If you add the activities of local avant-garde composers & polymaths like Paul Panhuysen, Remko Scha, or Michel Waisvisz, this was a perfect creative storm for young punks. It has many parallels to Cleveland's music scene from a decade prior.

Although Nasmak are usually lumped in with the 80s new wave crews, to my ears their experimental bent gives them the sound of a weird Dutch Pere Ubu. They play punk-derived style for stark, punchy bass/drums riffs with spare but nasty guitar (& gruff English vocals). Nasmak's defining characteristic is the way they create songs & then work at stripping them of melody, replacing much of it with sonic space. They are more post-punk than new wave.

According to Nasmak:
     "This CD offers a remixed version of our album 4our Clicks originally released on Dutch independent Plurex in February 1982. We were dissatisfied with the original mix in which half of the recorded multi-tracks were lost. This updated version reveals 4our Clicks as it was intended."

Recorded at Ballad Sound Studio, 1981, Vuren, the Netherlands & Arnold Mühren Studio, 1982, Volendam, the Netherlands. Re-mixed at The Tango Studio, 1988, Eindhoven, the Netherlands.

On 4our Clicks, Nasmak is: Henk Janssen & Joop van Brakel - guitar, vocals; Theo van Eenbergen - bass guitar; & Toon Bressers - drums. 

 

Nasmak - 4our Clicks remix, Eksakt Records 039, 1988.
decryption code in comments

Pilot in Charge    
Waiting Room    
First Dishhunt    
I Hope I'm Gonna Rain Today    
Nothing but the Lyrics    
Sade, M De    
Origins & Whereabouts    
Roger, Bill Iceberg    
No Touch & Go    
Take a Look    
Not Your Living Doll    
Nodedive    
4our Clicks    
The Smell Remains No. 1    

Enjoy,

07 October 2021

Why Did it Have to be Nothing Records? He Lip-syncs.

 

In 1993, cyberculture prankster/provocateur/publisher RU Sirius, founder of Mondo 2000 magazine along with composer Scrappi DuChamp, & performance artist Simone Third Arm, recorded an album for Trent Reznor's record label. They had met at Reznor's Los Angeles rental home, the house where the Manson Family killed Sharon Tate & others. Tim Leary had brought RU along to a housewarming party there. RU gave Reznor a demo tape of the band, called Mondo Vanilli. Reznor quickly signed the band to his then-nascent Nothing Records. Unfortunately, this great work of curious & quirky synth-industrial-pop, titled IOU Babe never made it to the record stores. Two decades later, Mondo Vanilli officially released IOU Babe for free online. 

_________________________________________________

What is the concept behind Mondo Vanili?

Here, in the words of group founder RU Sirius:
     "I'm sitting outside at a coffee shop one morning reading the local newspaper and there's a big fuss being made about Milli Vanilli. Their Grammy award had been rescinded because they had been caught lip-synching at their performances. To my Virtual Reality-bent brain, this demand for authenticity seemed completely ludicrous. First of all, this was obviously a prefabricated band making the most absolutely crappy, bland corporate music imaginable, so why did they get a Grammy in the first place… and who fucking cares if they lip-synched?

So I had the concept right then and there...Mondo Vanilli...a Virtual Reality band that would proudly lip-synch, or maybe not even pretend to play live music on stage, perhaps we would exist totally in Virtuality, or else we would do other, more original types of performance to our music. Wasn't a bunch of guys standing around with guitars or synths a really boring old cliché, even if you had a theatrical front man or woman?"

_________________________________________________
 
How this all began.

Once upon a time, there were some bizarre mid-80s songs riffing on the Beatles (Negativland) all about the 20th anniversary of the summer of love. They fell into the hands of Mondo 2000 magazine & in a deconstructive burst of creativity, became a flexi-disc inside the print magazine. Almost.

Then the same creative team decided to do "something disrespectful & different " to the industrial / acid house music of the mid-90s.  R.U. Sirius's original band The Merry Tweeksters got reincarnated into Mondo Vanilli while resurrecting some lyrics from Sirius's forgotten '80s band The Party Dogs. Sirius was joined in this mind-bending mix by a performance artist named Sim1 3Arm & a cool music composer Scrappi DuChamp.Then Trent Reznor gets involved.

Reznor's label ultimately signed Mondo Vanilli but then refused to release their album, I.O.U. Babe. Nearly 20 years later that lost album re-surfaced on the web, crashed all the servers, & then continued falling through time. 

 



_______________________________________________________________

More from Sirius:

     "It was about three months after I'd quit MONDO 2000 (1993). We (Mondo Vanilli) headed down to L.A. with a demo tape & this very fun, very silly little Xeroxed package offering music industry behemoths the opportunity to get in on the cutting edge of cyber-absurdism.

We were going to stay with Timothy Leary in Beverly Hills. We had a whole lot of really amazing music industry connections to look up because of connections I had made at MONDO 2000. We were going to talk with Al Jourgensen. I also had heard from Billy Idol, who was just starting work on his infamous cyberpunk thing. So I had his phone number to plan a visit.

I called Casey Cannon, a MONDO friend from L.A. who at that time, she was making most of those short two-minute previews you see in movie theaters (her husband Van Ling was with Lightstorm & was James Cameron's go-to guy on the new technology). She told me that we had to go to Trent Reznor's party that night. Reznor had just rented 10050 Cielo Drive, the house that had been occupied by Roman Polanski & Sharon Tate where Sharon & all those other people were slaughtered by the Mansonoids. This was to be his housewarming party.

I called the number I got from Casey. I got an answering machine. I was able to leave the message that I was staying at Timothy Leary's house. Howdy, neighbor! A couple of hours later, Tim came out of his office. He said was talking to Peter Christopherson (Coil, Throbbing Gristle). We were invited to Trent Reznor's housewarming party (in a bit of synchronicity, this underground theater group was putting on a play based on a conversation Leary had with Charlie Manson when he was in prison & there were posters and flyers for it around the house).

Just before we were about to head to the party, Tim came out with a mint dish filled with pink ecstasy tabs, offering them around. Simone (Third Arm, another member of Mondo Vanilli) took one but Scrappi & I refused.

But something about the historical resonances nagged at me. What would the small town freak who I had been back in the 70s think about refusing a hit from Timothy Leary before heading up to the infamous Manson horror house to a rock star party. After a few minutes I snuck over & pocketed two hits. I went in the bathroom, broke one of them in half & took it.

I must have had an empty stomach because it came on quick & rather strong for a low dose. Reznor's new home was only a few blocks from Leary's, but it was on some windy roads. Getting there became interesting when a red Ferrari started tailgating us & then this guy began gesticulating wildly out the window. He cut in front of us and made us stop. Out popped Gibby Haynes, shouting, wanting to know if we knew "the way." He didn't even have to say the way to what. He let us get in front again & we made our way to the Reznor party.

On arrival, an enthusiastic Gibby jumped out of the car to meet Tim. He was bragging that the red Ferrari was on loan from Johnny Depp. With the ecstasy coming on, the entire L.A. hip culture started to seem like a serene glittery playground filled with happy children playing grownup. I settled into a comfort zone. The world was a friendly place.
 
The rest of the night was the usual party / ecstacy blur. The last I saw of Trent, he was waving around a baggie of mushrooms & heading into a room with one of the party girls. Maybe that's why he liked the Mondo Vanilli tape so much that he called the next day to offer us a recording contract."

 

 

Mondo Vanilli - IOU Babe, self-released, 2013.
decryption code in comments

Gimme Helter
Thanx!
Clones Don't Have to Be so Cold
Love is the Product
Bummer
Love is the Remix
Gun Cereal
The Ballad of Brent Buzzkill
Free from Head
The Legend of the Cyberpiss Goddess
Free from Head 2
IOU Babe

Enjoy,

05 October 2021

Just Heard from Ib...Sibling from the Bleachers

 

Haven't heard from Ib for quite some time. He's taken time out to write two books: A Reign on Chimney Poets, a volume of short stories from on & off the Bleachers; & Safe as Milf, a volume of poetry. I heard from Ib today, letting me know that SaM had been released September 28th. You can find both on Amazon...search Ian Begg. They both are available there for Kindle, the latest in book form as well or you can go directly to siblingshot.com. I believe there are even a few signed copies left to purchase.

Although Ib is a dyed-in-the-wool Glaswegian, one of his favorite bands is American alternative band Thin White Rope. I am posting this for him, for all of you, & it fits perfectly into the theme I have going. Weird October. They are definitely on the weird side but hopefully as with the rest of the weirdness going on here, you find them to be fantastic as well.

Ib, this one's for you, brother.

Thin White Rope took their name from William Burroughs's description in The Naked Lunch of male ejaculation. From the opening song on their very first record, "Down in the Desert" from Exploring the Axis, a sun-baked, looping Tex-Mex groove of intense heat & shimmering mirage, TWR set the template for the sonic & emotional themes they carried on throughout their short history (I've added it here as a bonus track to set things off right).

Thin White Rope, powered by the twin guitar attack of singer/songwriter/guitarist Guy Kyser & lead guitarist Roger Kunkel, were a tragically under-appreciated band from California. Unfortunately for us, they never really rose to the level of appeal that surrounded other US breakout alternative bands. Their sound proved much too idiosyncratic for the masses, but now almost 30 years after the band's swansong, those eccentricities are exactly what keeps them so listenable & makes them so memorable.

Their five albums roamed over desert rock, warped psychedelia, fucked-up country, jangle-pop, & lysergic blues. They covered Jimi Hendrix, Can, Suicide, Jimmy Reed, Duke Ellington, the Byrds, Hawkwind, Lee Hazlewood, & Marty Robbins.

I have chosen their sophomore effort Moonhead to showcase here. This is the 1989 re-release with the remastered long cut of "Take it Home" & 4 additional tracks not on the original Zippo version. 

 

 

Thin White Rope - Moonhead, Frontier Records FCD 1020, 1989.
decryption code in comments

Not Your Fault
Wire Animals
Thing
Moonhead
Wet Heart
Mother
Come Around
If Those Tears
Crawl Piss Freeze
Waking Up
Valley of the Bones
Atomic Imagery
Ain't That Lovin' You Baby
Take it Home (long Version)

Sittin' on the bleachers with a wet heart,

04 October 2021

PeΔrls of J 😊y

 

There are often occasions that I delve into weird micro-genres, just to see what craziness abounds. I posted up a set of vaporwave in the past, just one such example.

Sometime in the early 2010s I was checking out Witch House bands. I liked the idea of the use of Unicode symbols in many of the band names which played into the Residents "Theory of Obscurity" by making it hard to Google their music. I liked the strange horror-film theme on oxycodone backward-masked studio manipulation of it. But it didn't take long to wear thin. Style over substance soon seemed the key ingredient & I fazed out of that phase.

While still delving into the genre around 2013, I came across The PeΔrls. I initially assumed by the spelling of the name that Witch House was what I would find. I was very mistaken. This was a couple of women from Milan, Italy: Simona of Thee Bomb'o'nyrics & Stella Santin of The Sensibles. They play the sweet hipster pop of bands like Best Coast with a dirty, lo-fi garage production that works perfectly. Their tunes are little peΔrls of euphoric joy delivered with muscle & authority. There's plenty of reverb & flanging among the garagey production along with a really upbeat nature.

So although I never really listen to Witch House bands like Salem, oOoOO, †‡†, Gr†LLGR†LL or White Ring anymore, I often find time to re-listen to this understated, underrated gem. Hope you find it as enjoyable as I do. 

 

The PeΔrls - The PeΔrls, Rijapov Records RIJ013, 2013.
decryption code in comments

Side 1 -
Be in One   
Shine a Light   
Walking   
Elephant   

Side 2 -
Away   
Infinity Call   
Reality is My Dream   
Safe Escape

Enjoy,

03 October 2021

Listen to the Voice of the People

 

I was sitting around Casa Nada del Este the other night. Black Dahli & Lao were at some womyns book club & faux clambake. I decide I'd get baked myself. I dug some special weed I'd grown in Cali several seasons ago out of the freezer. I fired up the vaporizer & proceeded to travel to another state. All of a sudden I realized I was freakin'. Then I realized it was just the musick... 

 

Vox Populi - Half Dead Ganja Music cassette, Cthulu Records CR 05, 1987.
decryption code in comments

Side A -
Schmacht
Gole Mariam
Da Ma
Golnessar
De la Cohorte Mystique

Side B -
Freaking at Ffm
Perse Voir la Lumière
Fassle
Taghmanantes
Gin Gina
Un Jour

Freak out,

02 October 2021

Been Avoiding the Bills Lately...Just Give Me a Little More Time

Before I continue on with Weird October, It's the first of the month & I've got Bills to p(l)ay. 

 

 

On one of my many Bill Nelson jags, this one March 2017 called Opus Illuminatus I shared with you all Chimes & Rings from the 4xCD Demonstrations of Affection, Cocteau Records CD JEAN89, 1989.

A few years on & a few years ago, I received the following comment from Mark1965:
     "Hi there, such a fantastic blog. thanks for the great posts. I'm hoping you may be able to help with a Bill Nelson recording that I am trying to locate, Nudity originally released as part of the Demonstrations of Affection 4 CD. Would you have it at all? The collection as all but disappeared. hoping that you may be able to help. Many thanks & have a great weekend. Best wishes M".

Well, I had sadly lost this hard-to-find treasure in one of my frustrating computer meltdowns.

I replied:
     "Ah, such a sour note. The Demonstrations of Affection lies unlistened to & as yet unlistenable on a external hard-drive that crashed on me about a year ago. More than 4T in music residing in limbo until I win the lottery or some other improbability. I will add this to the growing list of requests that I will gladly accommodate as I can. For now, let me know if you find Nudity or the rest. Thanks."

I have been valiantly trying to get my hands on it since then but to no avail...until yesterday when I dear friend gifted me a pristine rip of the 4x DoA set.

So Mark1965, if you're still out there & still need this (& to everyone else who loves Bill Nelson), here in its entirety is CD2 (JCCD25)...Nudity.

Bill Nelson - Nudity, Cocteau Records JCCD 25, 1989.
all decryption codes in comments

Feels Like Up to Me    
Prize of Years    
Still Waiting    
Lover Boy at Heart    
The Wonder of it All    
Devil in Me    
A Little More Time    
What's it All About?    
Thunder on the Wing    
Shake it Up    
Love to Win    
Running    
If Love Were Gold    
I Want You    
Kiss it Off    
Angel like You    
Crying All Night    
Only Love Can Tell



While I'm at it...here's one from 1995. 14 guitar-based instrumentals written, recorded & mixed in 14 days. All instruments played by Bill Nelson. 

 


Roses & Rocketships   
Spinning Planet   
Thousand Fountain Island   
Piano 45   
Pink Buddha Blues   
Kid with Cowboy Tie   
Royal Ghosts   
Her Presence in Flowers   
Big Noise in Twangtown   
Tiny Little Thing   
Wild Blue Cycle   
Every Moment Infinite   
Friends from Heaven   
Eternal for Emiko

Enjoy,